Bay Area experts say polio vaccine key to keep disease suppressed
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- A case of polio detected in New York's wastewater system shows that feared disease has not been eradicated in the United States as had previously been supposed.
UCSF epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford worked at the CDC in the early 1980s when Taiwan experienced its polio outbreak.
"I saw a thousand cases clinically, easily," he recalled.
The patient in New York is experiencing paralysis. Epidemiologists believe that patient came in contact with the virus overseas after visiting a country that still uses a weakened live virus in its vaccine -- a virus which then mutated.
Dr. Rutherford says improved science is helping to detect these diseases in their early stages.
"The technology has gotten way out in front and also I think there is a lot of caution because of COVID that people don't want to make the same mistake twice," Rutherford said.
In the U.S., most people are vaccinated for polio so the concern for an outbreak is fairly low.
"What I am worried about are the pockets of unvaccinated communities, even here in California and here in the Bay Area, where, if people are not vaccinated, they could be at risk," said Dr. Yvette Maldonado with Stanford Children's Health.
This is coming at a time when overall vaccine confidence is down and some kids missed getting their usual vaccinations during the pandemic.
"If you look at the doses that were missed, based on 2020 and 2021 data, we think that 14 to 15 million children have not been caught up to date in the whole country," Dr. Maldonado explained.
Doctors estimate roughly 30,000 lives in the U.S. are saved every year from diseases that can be conquered by effective vaccines. They hope the re-emergence of polio will encourage parents to get their kids caught up on all their shots.
"They don't want to regret later and say 'I wish I would've done this.' When I was a young pediatrician, I would see a lot of these diseases every single week. We just don't see them anymore because kids are protected so we want to keep those kids safe," Dr. Maldonado said.
